ABA League offers referees 700 euros a game, reply due
After referees rejected 630 euros, the clubs raised their offer, but the lawyer for 63 officials asked for more time while the second round remains in doubt.
Buducnost against Cibona was supposed to open the new ABA League season in Podgorica on Friday, September 25, at 6 p.m. The Zagreb club never traveled, because the game was postponed over the dispute about referee fees. Four days later, negotiations have reached 700 euros per game, and the referees have not yet replied.
How did the offer get from 630 to 700 euros?
The referees originally asked for 1,200 euros per game, and the league offered 630. The officials then lowered their demand to 800 euros, but no deal was reached. They were given until noon on September 28 to respond to the 630-euro offer, and they turned it down. We covered that rejection in our piece on the referees who refused 630 euros.
Around the negotiating table on September 27 sat ABA League president Ostoja Mijailovic, Dragan Bokan, Davor Uzbinec, Nemanja Vasiljevic, Djordje Pavicevic, Miguel Angel Perez and Dubravko Kmetovic. The referees were represented by lawyer Danijel Papak, who acts for 63 officials from Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
After another meeting of the clubs with voting rights, where the budget and the competition’s finances were reviewed, it was decided to send the referees an offer of 700 euros. The deadline for a reply was 24 hours, or, as Mijailovic put it, midnight.
Set against the last known demand of 800 euros, the gap has shrunk from 170 euros per game (800 against 630) to 100 euros per game.
Why is the lawyer asking for more time?
Papak replied within the deadline but asked for extra time to respond. According to the letter, the referees need time for everyone to study the offer and to reach a decision free of pressure and ultimatums. The final answer, per that letter, should arrive on September 29.
Separately, more than 20 referees on the list are traveling, because Euroleague and EuroCup games are played on September 29 and 30. Most of the 63 officials work in those competitions too.
The referees have been clear about what they want. In a joint message that the 63 officials released to the public, it says:
ABA League referees have collectively decided not to officiate games until a fair agreement based on mutual respect is reached with the League.
Another part of the same message, addressed to colleagues, reads: “This is not only a question of financial terms. It is about professional respect, fair treatment and the future position of referees in the competition.”
What is at stake in the second round?
Referee assignments for the second round were due to begin as early as September 29. The first round was postponed by a vote of the league’s members, with 11 in favor and one abstention, and the second round is scheduled as follows:
- FMP vs Crvena Zvezda
- Partizan vs Mega
- Krka vs Buducnost
- Cedevita Olimpija vs Cibona
- Ilirija vs Dubai
- Borac Cacak vs Siroki
- Igokea vs Slovan
- Vienna vs Cluj
- Spartak vs Bosna
- Zadar vs SC Derby
The president of the ABA League Referees Commission, Miguel Angel Perez, addressed the clubs and the owners of the competition with the words: “At this moment there are no guarantees that a sufficient number of referees will be provided for the games.”
The league tried another route as well. It opened a call for new referees, 50 applied, and 20 stayed on Perez’s list. Some of them nevertheless withdrew after messages sent from the address referees.abaleague@gmail.com. The ABA League claims the address unlawfully used its name and says it will take legal action.
According to Sport Klub’s estimates, the 700-euro offer would raise the competition’s costs by nearly a million euros. If the second round is postponed too, the league faces compensation claims from Dubai, Slovan of Bratislava, Vienna and Cluj.
The next date is known: the ABA League is due to respond on the request for an extended deadline on September 29, when the referees’ final answer is also expected. Whether the second round gets referees, scheduled for next weekend, depends on that reply.
